Eve Online - an invitation

I've decided to create a separate thread from the usual as I think most people see the words Eve Online and have either tried it and found it frustratingly inaccessible or they believe it to be a game for psychopaths requiring a degree in social engineering.

There's no doubt it can be an unwelcomingly tricky game to come to and the developers don't get too many bonus points for making the situation what it is. It's true that there is a bewildering amount of information to be taken in throughout your time in the game however, only a small amount of it matters when you start out.

Where most people come unstuck is knowing what it is they actually need to know at any given point in their character development. When you have that licked, the process of learning becomes actually quite enjoyable. This is where having a good Corporation comes in - there is a reason most Eve players bang the drum about the importance of joining a Corp.

Lollipops for Rancors is an unofficial Eurogamer Corp and it occurs to me as I write this that we are not far off our first birthday. We cover most areas of the game and we are a good mixture of veterans, newbies and not-so-newbies. We've formed a close-knit group who have come to know each other as friends.

Late last year, using game mechanics you will not find in any other MMO, we dipped our toes into the murky world of sandbox space-revenge. I can honestly say that this experience was the highlight of over a quarter century of gaming.

As someone who took out I think 3 or 4 trials before subscribing, I find it hard to believe I've typed that last sentence. The difference between trialling and subscribing was simply getting in with the right sort of people.

So, on behalf of LFR I would like to extend an offer to the EG MMO community. Put aside your preconceptions about Eve, ignore the infamous learning cliff, forget about spreadsheets-in-space. We'd all like to bring more of the EG community into the fold and we will get you up and running and help you find your feet in the game.

Take a trial out and look us up. This may well be the best game you've never played.

Having said this, I haven't played it as much as I'd like - I'm like InfiniteFury.. have tried the trial numerous times but never subscribed. However, I have been thinking about starting up properly recently. Still having issues deciding what race('s ships) I want to play as though

Bloodloss wrote:
Still having issues deciding what race('s ships) I want to play as though

Largely asthetic now, you can cross-train into whatever faction ships you feel like. It only really affects what your initial training is going to be in ie lasers vs bullets. You can always pick up the low level skills later.

Finding a good corp in Eve can really make or break the game, it opens up so many more possibilities and play styles. If I'd not joined LFR 6 months ago I would have probably unsubbed due to the monotony of mining solo.

Benno wrote:
And to those who have never played. The learning curve really isn't as bad as people make out

I didn't think there was one at all really, the interface could use a bit of cleaning up though. My only issue was the game just got a bit confusing when a book the tutorial gave me vanished from my inventory and it never explained if I would need that to progress. Turns out if I would have continued with the tutorial accessing the skill queue would have been explained to me and it would not have been a problem (which I couldn't do at the time because the servers were going down).

shamblemonkee wrote:
But do remember that caldari is shield tank vs. armor tank for gallente and amarr. plus minnies have it tough needing to learn both to excel in all their ships.

No race is really that simple though as you open them up you keep finding a broader and broader variety of skills required, even as the famously focused Amarr I've some good shield skills and even some missiles stuff. At the end of the day you find stuff that you want to fly and specialise. Over time your specialities broaden so that you start to have greater and greater flexibility, but as many say there are only so many skill points you can use at any one time.

It is interesting looking back on my almost year, I joined with the EG rush after the stories of BoB's downfall thinking that I would probably never 'catch up'.

While there is still lots stuff I want to do I have achieved so much in that time, going from a small scale skirmish in hi sec when I was struggling to even fit a cruiser to full on confrontations with capitals while flying fully kitted out battleships in the'end game' null sec, with a long vacation in unpredictable worm hole space.

I think that the greatest strength of LFR comes from the friendships that have been developed in the game. Not only within the corp but also with others we have flown with.

I think that the greatest strength of LFR comes from the friendships that have been developed in the game. Not only within the corp but also with others we have flown with.

We're always good for a bit of banter, us lot.

@InfiniteFury: I wanted to sign up after that post

I started a year ago, it was (and still is) my first MMO. I probably would've quit the trial in a week if I hadn't joined our corp. I was made to feel very welcome and haven't looked back. Even when I was space-raped at one point carrying my space-life savings.

To the SP gamers: Eve wants your time, of course, but the nature of it's 'levelling-up' system means you can spend as much time away from the keyboard as you want to, without missing out on skilling up.

There's a certain sense of pride in being part of the unofficial EG corp.

bunglebonce wrote:
To the SP gamers: Eve wants your time, of course, but the nature of it's 'levelling-up' system means you can spend as much time away from the keyboard as you want to, without missing out on skilling up.

While that's very good to know, I'm one of those strange gamers for whom the point is playing the game rather than levelling in absentia.

Yeah i never understood the players who go absent while a long skill trained, for me it was freedom to train something up whilst still retaining the freedom to play how I liked.

@ dodgy, oh I am well aware of the rabbithole that is skill training , every new skill you learn opens up new avenues or requirements to fill, new ships to fly, which lead to further skill plans, etc, etc.